Users often find it convenient to locate information on a network using a search engine. This is particularly true when the source of information is vast, such as information from the World Wide Web. Some examples of search engines include those provided by Google, Yahoo, MSN, Entireweb, Gigablast, Excite, Lycos, Dogpile, Hotbot, Ask, A9, Alexa, and Exactseek.
A search engine typically operates by crawling web sites to retrieve web pages and other types of items (e.g., Word documents, audio files, etc), and by generating an index of these items. When a user submits a search query (typically consisting of a keyword or keyword phrase), the search engine compares the search query to the index to identity any responsive items, and ranks the responsive items for display. The ranking algorithms used for this purpose typically take into consideration various metrics reflective of the relevance of the item. For example, the ranking (and thus display position) of a particular web page in a search result listing may depend on following factors, as well as numerous others: (a) the degree to which the web page matches the search query, (b) the number of other web pages that include a link to this web page, and (c) the frequency with which prior users who have submitted the same or a similar search query have selected this web page from the search result listing. The ranked search result set is typically made available to the user over multiple search results pages, with the first search results page displaying the top N (e.g., ten) results, the second search results page displaying the next N results, and so on.
Companies, webmasters and individuals commonly take measures to increase the rankings or “placement” of their respective web sites in search results listings. For example, the operator of a particular web site may encourage other web site operators to provide links to this web site. The operator can also adjust the content of a web site to make it more enticing to human visitors, and implement a search engine optimization strategy, which is a set of methodologies aimed at improving the ranking of the web site in search engine listings. To assess and increase the effectiveness of these measures, web site operators frequently use automated tools to monitor the placement of their web sites across a number of different search engines and search queries. These tools generally operate by submitting pre-specified search queries to the search engines of interest, and recording the placement of the web sites and pages of interest in the search results.
One problem with using such automated tools is that they tend to produce inaccurate or misleading results. The lack of quality of the results is typically due to one or more of the following: (1) the search results are based on predefined search queries, which may or may not be representative of actual search queries in common usage; (2) the search results can vary based on a user's, and thus the automated tools, geographic location; (3) the search results can vary based on the server reached, and the quality of the index used by the particular server; (4) the search results can vary based on when the search engine had last been updated; and (5) the results are “moment in time” snapshots, and do not indicate variations during any time period between one search and the next. Another problem with using such automated tools is that they increase the load on the search engine system. In fact, some search engine operators have published terms of service prohibiting the use of such tools.
The foregoing discussion provided for background purposes only, and is not intended to imply that all of the inventions and embodiments disclosed herein address the above-described problems with existing placement monitoring tools.